Devin Wenig, president of eBay, said the company does not share data with the US. National Security Agency, but German privacy commissioner Peter Schaar said he is certain it is shared.

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San Jose Mercury News
Guest editorial

The more we learn about the National Security Agency's misuse of the Internet as a massive surveillance tool, the more urgent it becomes for Silicon Valley to push back to protect privacy rights.

Lost in the furor over the government shutdown, NSA officials made some shocking revelations Wednesday before the Senate Judiciary Committee: They have the ability to track individual Americans' cellphone locations. NSA chief Gen. Keith Alexander also admitted there had been 12 known cases of abuse of this power by agency employees, who had spied on people for personal reasons.